IO Slot Review – ELK Studios
ELK Studios is one studio who has grown so much in 2019 and now 2020. Their huge success is from their success within their slot releases, particularly the GOLD slot series. The GOLD slot series is still running with the latest addition ‘Black River Gold‘, which released in April. The main success was within the first releases ‘Ecuador Gold‘ and ‘Tahiti Gold‘. Ecuador Gold was the first released in early 2019, which showed the industry something new and innovative. Next from the studio is something completely different and not part of the GOLD series. This new game is titled ‘IO’ set to release June 2nd across all sites.
IO has a set theme based in the universe, with stars and a moon behind the reel set. There are some small simple animations on the reel border which I noticed. This theme is something the studio has not used before and has the same reel setup and symbol mechanics as ‘Cygnus‘. There is a gravity Mechanic that draws symbols left to right on their way downwards, symbols part of wins will explode and be removed from the reel set. We have seen the reel set up before, but the theme is something new from ELK Studios. I like the visuals and think they have done a great job with them.
IO has a setup of 6 reels by 4 – 8 rows, this includes up to 262, 144 ways to win. This game is high variance due to the max win capped at 5,000x and set RTP of 96% . You can bet from £0.20 – £100.
IO Slot Review Paytable & Symbols
There are 10 symbols in total, this includes 4 low paying symbols. These are represented by J, Q, K and A. There are also 4 premium symbols, these are represented by stars, four-leaf clovers, diamonds and sevens. In addition to these regular symbols is a wild symbol and moon scatter. The highest paying symbol is the seven premium, which pays 5x for 6 across all reels. The wild symbol substitutes for all symbols except the scatter.
IO Slot Review Features
There are numerous features within this slot, including ‘Laser‘. When beams from two laser symbols interset, the laser symbols and all regular symbols along the beamline will be turned into wilds. A single laser removes itself and all symbols along the beam.
The second feature is ‘Wild Forge‘, a wild forge fills an empty space below the multiplier wild. The value of the multiplier increases every time wild forge is used, Wild forge turns into a multiplier wild when it falls to the bottom of the reel.
The third feature is ‘Charged Wild‘, charged wild symbols have 4 extra lives. It will spend a life when it is part of a symbol win. After 4 wins the charged wild will disappear and substitutes for all symbols but the scatter.
Central to this slot is the ‘Bonus Game‘, triggered by landing 3 scatters during one drop. This will award 7 Free drops, played on 8 rows. Charged wilds and wild forge symbols are collected at the bottom of the reel set between free drops. A retrigger can occur by landing 3 scatters during one drop, awarding 7 additional drops.
Conclusion
Overall, I think ELK Studios has done a fantastic job of creating IO. There is clear inspiration from previous release Cygnus, with the reel design and symbol mechanics. There are numerous features to keep the gameplay interesting and high volatility. Be sure to try the slot for yourself on release and check out our exclusive casino offers.
